Norwegian Mountains, Møre og Romsdal

Kvitegga, Blåfjellnibba, Vatnedalsegga, July 27 2008


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Part of the upper route

Part of the upper route
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When I left my trailhead in Synnylvsmoldskreddalen 11:43am, I had no idea how many tops I would end up with. My primary focus was Kvitegga, but I wasn't a stranger to the idea of a long round trip, either. The decision would be made on Kvitegga. I didn't expect there to be a trail up Litlemoldskreddalen, so I didn't bother looking for one. I looked up towards the hillsides left and right of Litledalsfossen waterfall, and chose the right-hand side. A bad, bad choice.

Literally, I had to force my way up the forest. On several occasions, I strongly considered turning around. But then again, I never turn around for something less difficult than climbing. Today, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow would be the point when I would rise above the forest. And that would be at approx. 750m elevation. In order to not turn completely mental, I looked for upsides. I found three: a) the weather was gorgeous, b) Litledalsfossen was gorgeous, and c) I would definitely not be coming down this way.

 

Litledalsfossen

Litledalsfossen
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Rising above the forest, I was happy again, but also thirsty. My water supply (0,5L ...) had ran out, and I was in serious need of more. The long hillside towards Kvitegga seemed completely dry, and I knew that no water would be found at the top. I figured that I could get to Kvitegga without water, and then just go back down. The river was only 100m away, but for some strange reason, I only wanted to move upwards.

But fortunately, I came across running water at approx. 1300m, and drank until the point of burping (and possibly beyond).

 

My route to Kvitegga

My route to Kvitegga
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I reached the top of Kvitegga 1:53pm. It had taken me 2h:10m to ascend the 1100m from the trailhead. I felt a bit tired, but the views all around cheered me up. I looked towards Blåfjellnibba and Vatnedalsegga, and the rest of the route seemed to be quite long. But I had already made up my mind. The round trip was on.

The round trip was sort of uneventful. I passed point 1451m 2:50pm, Blåfjellnibba 3:23pm, point 1372m 4:05pm and the time was 4:45pm when I reached the top of Vatnedalsegga. The descent from point 1372m had been a bit rough, but not difficult. It felt good to be on Vatnedalsegga. It would only be downhill from now on. I was once again thirsty, and my two chocolate bars were long gone. The descent would be interesting. I decided to try the west side of the river, but I was mentally prepared for having to descend my ascent route, if need be. I had one final glance towards the mighty Store Smørskredtind, and the route I had climbed 21 days earlier.

Smørskredtindane

Smørskredtindane
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From Vatnedalsegga,  I followed a vague path, which I hoped would take me all the way down to the car. I lost it while descending from point 1193m, but kept faith, and found it again, further down on the ridge. And the trail was marked! Glory, glory...

The forest path was steep. It would be strenuous to ascend this path, but of course, nowhere near as strenuous as my off-trail route on the other side of the river. At approx. 620m, a path led into the basin below the waterfall. I strongly considered taking a shower below the waterfall, but decided not to. Just having the option was good enough. And at last, my thirst got satisfied..

I was back at the car 6:10pm, after having been walking for 6,5 hours and gained 1600 vertical meters. The trail sign was only 100m from where I had parked. Amazing. I drove away knowing that I would return to this beautiful valley, one fine day.

 

Pictures

The pictures were taken with a Canon EOS 300D + Canon EF-S 17-85mm IS USM F 4-5.6

 
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To Kvitegga

0A. Trip tracks 0B. Route profile 1. Synnylvsmoldskreddalen 2. Sætredalsfjellet 3. View towards Skruven 4. Cabins in Synnylvsmoldskreddalen 5. Litledalsfossen 6. Litledalsfossen 7. To Kvitegga

Wide-angle view from Kvitegga

8. Wide-angle view from Kvitegga

360 deg., 85mm zoom views from Kvitegga

9. 85mm zoom view from Kvitegga, part 1 of 4 10. 85mm zoom view from Kvitegga, part 2 of 4 11. 85mm zoom view from Kvitegga, part 3 of 4 12. 85mm zoom view from Kvitegga, part 4 of 4

360 deg., 85mm zoom views from Kvitegga

13. Looking back on Kvitegga 14. Vatnedalsegga 15. Tverrfjellet 16. Part of the upper route ahead 17. Geirangerfjorden 18. Sætrenibba and Ljøsætra 19. On point 1451m 20. To Blåfjellnibba 21. Flosteinnibba and Tårnet 22. To Blåfjellnibba

Wide-angle view from Blåfjellnibba

23. Wide-angle view from Blåfjellnibba

To Vatnedalsegga

24. Smørskredtindane 25. Herdalsnibba 26. Emdalstindane 27. Kvitegga 28. Ice 29. Vatnedalsegga 30. Brevatnet 31. Tverrfjellet 32. Up Vatnedalsegga

Wide-angle view from Vatnedalsegga

33. Wide-angle view from Vatnedalsegga

Descent

34. Emdalstindane 35. Major Ørsta peaks 36. Leirvasshornet 37. Synnylvsvatnet 38. Descending Vatnedalsegga 39. My ascent route to Kvitegga 40. Descending Vatnedalsegga 41. Synnylvsmoldskreddalen 42. Litledalsfossen 43. Litledalsfossen 44. Litledalsfossen rainbow 45. Litledalsfossen 46. Rough outline of the path 47. Trail sign

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